Kenora Airport Authority Inc. Box 469, ON, P9N 3X5 Phone (807) 548-5377, Fax (807) 548-1460

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TO:

Aviation Consultants for

Development of an Air Service Proposal

@ Kenora Airport

December 11, 2018

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TO:

Aviation Consultants for

Development of an Air Service Proposal

@ Kenora Airport

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Introduction

2 Scope of Work

3 Scheduling

4 Submittal Requirements

5 Proposal Contents

6 Proposal Evaluation

7 Liability

8 Submission Instructions

The Kenora Airport Authority Inc. 1

RFP Commercial Air Service Development at Kenora Airport December 2018

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose

The scope of the work required from the consultant is to provide a rational and comprehensive framework for the development of commercial air service business case proposals. The proposals will support the use of Kenora airport’s new terminal to meet the current and long-term demands of the airport. We are looking to provide commercial air service business cases to specified airlines to attract new commercial scheduled service to and from Kenora. The target airlines include, Porter, Air Jazz, WestJet Encore and Delta/SkyWest. In addition, the project will build upon the data collection efforts that have already been undertaken by the airport authority and will be used in the creation of professionally developed business case proposals.

1.2 Airport Background

1.2.1 Location

Kenora is located approximately 490 km (by highway) northwest of Thunder Bay and 210 km (by highway) east of Winnipeg. Kenora Airport is approximately 9.3 km East North East of downtown Kenora. The new terminal (McDougald International Terminal) will be used for the new airlines.

1.2.2 Ownership

The Airport was initially developed in 1939. In 1956 it was hard surfaced; and in 1978 the runway was extended to 6,000 feet. Ownership of the airport was transferred to the Kenora Airport Authority from Transport Canada on March 22, 1996 and is currently operated by the Board and receives no funding from the City of Kenora. The Kenora Airport is owned and operated by the Kenora Airport Authority. A volunteer board appointed by the current Airport Authority board of directors, governs the Kenora airport. Presently, the airport board only has 10 (ten) members. The Authority is financially self-sustaining and does not receive any local tax proceeds. We are known as a not-for-profit organization. The Board of Directors – who volunteer their time – meets once a month, on the fourth (4th) Thursday. There is also an annual meeting to review the fiscal year activities and to conduct corporate business.

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RFP Commercial Air Service Development at Kenora Airport December 2018

1.2.3 Construction History

• 1994 – Kenora Airport underwent an airside electrical upgrade for runway lighting, and apron lighting • 2001-2002 – Kenora Airport underwent a runway, taxiway and apron rehabilitation -Runway 08-26 was repaved and Apron 1 was extended as well as Taxi-Alpha through Transport Canada’s ACAP program • 2010-2011 - Due to a severe wildlife issue, the airport installed wildlife fencing around the entire airport with a success rate of 100% (ACAP project) • 2013 - The airport upgraded the Emergency power supply and distribution with a new generator and electrical upgrade (ACAP project) • 2017-2018 – The airport completed its new terminal through various funding sources (Municipal, Provincial, Federal) while simultaneously upgrading all lighting to LED to match the standards set in TP 312 5th edition

1.2.4 Additional Airport Information

The critical design aircraft for Kenora Airport has now changed to the Bombardier Q400 with the Aircraft Group Number (AGN) = IV The Kenora Airport has a total land area of approximately 380 hectares, including:

Runway 08-26 • 5800 ft. x 150 ft. asphalt surface

Two (2) paved taxiways • Taxiway Alpha: connecting runway 08-26 to main Apron 1 for general parking • Taxiway Bravo: private taxiway for MNR Forest Fire fighting base • Main Apron; for parking, main terminal building, Canada Customs, FBO, air ambulance hangar, 24 hour FSS located on Apron 1, private hangars and Mag Air Services. • Navigational Aids, including Non-Directional Beacon (NDB), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Global Positioning System (GPS), Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI), and LED lighting.

The Kenora Airport is a Transport Canada certified facility meeting the requirements of TP 312 for a Code 3C non-precision approach, AGN IV certified.

The Kenora Airport Authority Inc. 3

RFP Commercial Air Service Development at Kenora Airport December 2018

The airport serves Northwestern , acting as a tourism gateway to the Lake of the Woods, among other attractions. The airport serves approximately 65,000 residents with 16,000 residing within Kenora’s city limits. The airport enplanes approximately 10,000 passengers per year. This number is significantly lower than it should be due to most residents using Winnipeg or Thunder Bay Airports. Currently, one airline provides limited commercial air service to Winnipeg and connecting flights to Thunder Bay. The primary reason for travelers not utilizing the Kenora airport more often is the high cost of ticketing and poor schedules. There is full community and business support for new commercial air service at the airport. We have already collected numerous letters of support from various community partners, including some with significant travel budgets (over $100K per year). The potential benefit for an airline that is willing to invest in Kenora with comparable prices and a reasonable schedule is anticipated to be quite rewarding, garnering full community support.

2.0 SCOPE OF WORK

The Air Service Consulting Services agreement may include but is not limited to:

AIR SERVICE ANALYSIS

1. Market Definition and Analysis: The Consultant shall be able to define and analyze the Airport’s air service trade area in multiple ways, including but not limited to, a thorough demographic review of the area, including the ability to obtain employment, level of interest, and travel information from the local business community as required. The results of this analysis will be summarized in the Air Service Presentations described below.

i. Identification of YQK catchment area

ii. Demographics of market users

iii. Leakage to competing airports (YWG, YQT, INL) and any others

iv. Passenger potential by market

v. Airfares at YQK compared to competing airports

vi. Comparison of air service at YQK to competing airports

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RFP Commercial Air Service Development at Kenora Airport December 2018

vii. Underserved markets

viii. Top destinations

ix. Seat capacity analysis

x. Domestic and international traffic demand

2. Route Analysis: The Proposer shall be able to analyze route performance and recommend airlines and routes that would be financially viable, which analysis shall be based on, but not limited to, the following list of considerations: xi. Historic and forecast traffic volumes, service patterns, and seasons. xii. Economic profile of historic and/or current commercial aviation services. xiii. Traffic and revenue forecasts for new operations including total passengers, projected load factors, yield analysis, passenger revenue potential, estimated operating costs and potential route profitability. xiv. Historic and forecast comparative data and analysis showing why the Airport represents a strong opportunity for a targeted carrier to provide service on a specific route.

The results of this Route Analysis will be summarized and presented in the Air Service Presentations described below.

2.1 Project Methodology The Consultant will be responsible to provide details on the proposed methods of accomplishing the required work.

The proposals to airlines need to differentiate between each airline. Kenora Airport Authority expects the consultant to customize each proposal to the specific airline.

3.0 SCHEDULING

It is intended that the work will be completed prior to March 1st, 2019. The consultant will provide a detailed work plan and project schedule.

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RFP Commercial Air Service Development at Kenora Airport December 2018

4.0 SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS

Applicants shall organize their submissions in such a way as to follow the submittal requirements listed below.

1) Qualifications and resume of project manager/consultant assigned to this project, including years of experience, list of projects worked on and involvement in those projects.

2) Firm’s expertise in air service analysis, planning, airport marketing or other related airport- consulting services. Include information describing the size of the firm, location of the office that will work directly with the Airport, number of years in business of providing air service consulting.

3) Resumes of key participants, including years of applicable experience, projects worked on and involvement in those projects. Identify whether participant is employed by the firm or will be providing work results under subcontract.

4) Firm profile, including size of firm, staff resources, its principals. Identify which services are provided by outside vendors or contractors.

5) Experience with conducting catchment & leakage studies and content of studies. Provide a recent example of a completed catchment and/or leakage study, preferably from a similar sized market.

6) Briefly explain how you would approach the development of a customized, detailed catchment & leakage study for YQK

7) Explain a typical working relationship you would have with the Airport (frequency of communications, advisement of opportunities and changes in the industry, responsiveness, etc.)

8) In addition to the scope of services, provide other recommendations you feel are relevant to our market. Visionary, forward-thinking strategies capable of sustaining YQK growth will have greater weight.

9) Include examples of route proposal projects that were successful in the last two years.

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RFP Commercial Air Service Development at Kenora Airport December 2018

10) Experience in developing airport/community partnership strategies. Provide an example.

11) List the airline representatives with all Canadian domestic and International commercial airline planning teams with whom you work.

12) Familiarity with the Kenora market.

13) Fee rates of all people assigned to the project and expenses for the duration of the initial contract. Indicate any markups of actual expenses. Explain company policy on billing for internal and external communications (e.g., phone calls, e-mails).

5.0 PROPOSAL CONTENTS

Two (2) sets of your submittal are required. Your submittal shall not exceed 25 - 8 1/2 x 11 pages equivalent. Excluded from this count is the transmittal letter, tabs, resumes, and sample catchment study. The inclusion of more pages than allowed may deduct from the scoring of the submittal; and, at the discretion of the Airport, may be grounds to consider the submittal as non-responsive and ineligible for evaluation.

The transmittal letter shall not exceed two pages, include the relevant information for the contact person, be signed by an official of the lead firm and shall summarize the key points of the submittal. Tab pages shall be blank except for the section name. The resume for the lead person shall not exceed two pages and other resumes shall not exceed one page per person.

Consultants are asked to include but not limited to:

i) Review of all background information including existing drawings, plans, surveys and reports. ii) Include the segments found in part 4.0 Submittal Requirements iii) Improve upon the existing information that the Kenora Airport Authority, in association with Tourism Kenora and the Kenora Economic Development team have already completed. iv) Analyze route traffic and revenue forecasts for new operations including total passengers, projected load factors, airport leakage, yield analysis, passenger revenue potential, estimated operating costs and potential route profitability. v) Prepare and submit 2 hard copies and an electronic copy of the documents in a PDF format.

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RFP Commercial Air Service Development at Kenora Airport December 2018

5.1 Codes and Regulation Compliance

The Consultant shall review all relevant codes, statues, regulations and by-laws applicable to the work required, and ensure those authorities having jurisdiction are consulted and approvals as appropriate are secured or complied with.

6.0 PROPOSAL EVALUATION

The Consultant’s proposal shall be evaluated in accordance with the following criteria. The Kenora Airport Authority Inc., on the basis of perceived “best value” to the Airport, will evaluate proposals as such, lowest price may not mean award. The Kenora Airport Authority Inc. reserves the right to select and award using its sole discretion and to reject any and all proposals as it sees fit. The Airport board will carry out a project assessment and make a determination using the criteria set out as outlined below.

Envelope Technical Portion Total Value 100 points

• Proposal Quality 10 points o Overall organization, quality of proposal

• Airport, Infrastructure and Planning Project Experience 10 Points

• Understanding of the Assignment 10 points o Demonstrated understanding of the assignment

• Qualifications and experience of firm & personnel 10 points

• Proposal has multiple documents showing the 5 points variances for each airline we will be proposing to

• Methodology 15 points o Depth, detail, clarity of the submission o Understanding of local issues

• Local Content 5 points

• Total Project cost 35 points

7.0 LIABILITY

Kenora Airport Authority is not responsible, nor does it owe anyone any funds for time spent on proposal including the winner and losers of this RFP.

The Kenora Airport Authority Inc. 8

RFP Commercial Air Service Development at Kenora Airport December 2018

Any spelling errors, grammatical or statistical inaccuracies does not void any contractual agreements made pre or post contract unless agreed upon between both Kenora Airport Authority and the signing party.

8.0 SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

8.1 Completed Proposals should be submitted by mail or email to:

Ryan Reynard, Executive Director Lake of the Woods Business Incentive Corp. 301 1st Ave. South, Kenora, ON P9N 1W2

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 807-467-4657 Fax: 807-467-4645

8.2 Closing Time for Submission of Proposals

Proposals must be received no later than:

4:00 PM, Central Standard Time, January 25th, 2019

8.3 Enquiries from Consultants

Contractors are to direct enquiries during the proposal call period to:

Ryan Reynard: [email protected]

**** Please note: Funding for this RFP/Project has yet to be confirmed from the Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines and the project is contingent upon receiving approval.